“What do you do?” It’s a stumper every time I meet someone new…
How to explain that I straddle old and new media worlds, translating between them, and fostering new forms that don’t quite have a name yet?
Ultimately, though, my guiding question isn’t really “What?” but “So what?” The thread that ties my two decades of work together is my gut understanding that media and design are central to how we run our democracy and construct—or destroy—our culture.
Here are a few of the overlapping roles I’ve inhabited while making and supporting media that matters:
Dot-connector: I build networks that link media innovators and activists, and serve as a bridge between practitioners, academics and policymakers. Currently I’m launching my own business, called Dot Connector Studio. More on that soon…
Media strategist: Currently my key role at AIR, where I’ve been documenting and amplifying the transformative multiplatform Localore projects.
Journalist: My core skills are writing, research, and analysis. I’ve co-authored a book, written myriad articles, and collaborated on a series of influential national and international reports on emerging forms of independent journalism and public media.
Impact producer: I lead and collaborate on print, web, and social media productions, events, and campaigns designed to inform, inspire, and mobilize,
Visualizer: Working in tandem with other researchers and designers, I map and illustrate complex media systems, political processes, and communication dynamics.
Along the way, I’ve worked at a DC think tank, led a university-based research project, edited a national political magazine, live-Tweeted more media conferences than I can remember, and taken several thousand photos that I’m now trying to shape into some kind of coherent art project that may or may not gel.
Recently I’ve been consulting with foundations and makers on the best ways to assess the impact of media productions. The work that I’ve done to synthesize such methods stems directly from “So what?” I want to know how media projects work and whether they’ve made anything happen—and I want to keep creating high-impact media myself and with others.
Still curious? Look around the site, or drop me a note.
